The Veil of Ignorance and Solidarity in Healthcare: Finding Compassion in the Original Position

• Authors: Zabdyr-Jamróz Michał
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In this paper I will juxtapose the concept of the veil of ignorance – a fundamental premise of Rawlsian justice as fairness – and solidarity in the context of the organisation of a healthcare system. My hypothesis is that the veil of ignorance could be considered a rhetorical tool that supports compassion solidarity. In the concept of the veil of ignorance, I will find some crucial features of compassion solidarity within the Rawlsian concept of “reciprocity” (actually, not being reciprocity at all) – located between “impartiality” and “mutual advantage”. I conclude that, even behind this “thick” veil, some essential, yet “particular” facts on health and wealth redistribution are available to decision makers. Lastly, I discover that by means of the assumption of self-interest in the original position the veil aims to convert egoism into empathy, thus invoking the solidarity of compassion that in turn could be translated into principles of the organisation of a healthcare system.

Keywords

EN

veil of ignorance; solidarity; healthcare system; justice as fairness; John Rawls

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii - Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Diametros
• Year: 2015
• Issue: Diametros 43
• Pages: 79-95

Dates

published

2015-03

Contributors

author

Zabdyr-Jamróz Michał

• Health Policy and Management Department Faculty of Health Science Jagiellonian University Medical College

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Notes

EN

Special Topic - Solidarity and Justice in Health Care

Identifiers

DOI

dx.doi.org/10.13153/diam.43.2015.717